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Otukpo the headquarters of Idomaland is a town in Benue State Nigeria. It is in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria and is also the eponymous name of the subgroup of the Idoma People who are known as the Otukpo people. Otukpo town is the headquarters of the Otukpo Local government and the Seat of the Idoma Monarch, the Ochi’Idoma.
The local Government Area came into existence in 1923 from the old settlement. In addition to the metropolitan Otukpo area, Otukpo is surrounded by other settlements such as Ogobia, Upu, Otukpo’icho, Otobi, Adoka, Oyegede and Akpa-Igala. (Odoh and Jiduana 2013)
It has a population recorded in the Population Census of 2006 as 266411 (NPC 2006)
The Idoma language is the most spoken language in the area with dialects such as Agatu, Edumoga, Otukpo, Orokam, Akpa-Agila, Utonkon, Igede and Iyala also spoken. The Idoma people are predominantly hunters, farmers and fishermen with the river Benue serving as a main source of livelihood to the North of Otukpo.
The Otukpo and Idoma-speaking area is bounded by Nasarawa to the north, Cross River to the South, Taraba to the east and Enugu and Kogi to the west.
The Otukpo district is made up of core villages such as Upu, Otukpo’icho, Otobi, Asa, Akpegede, Obaganya, Ojantele, Edikwu, Otada and Odudaje.
It is a largely agrarian community in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria.
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